Category Archives: Europe

stormy summer as per usual // canal – it was 26C the day before we arrived and the day after we left // jak looking dapper // c’est moi? with a coat in june? // outside the station in utrecht – bicycle parking lot //really adorable … really // 🙂 // yes, your bicycle will be towed away // fresh mint tea during our visit to wonderfully lacking utrecht.

Share this:

Like this:

Damrak is a major street in Amsterdam, crowded from dusk till dawn with swarms of the worst kind of tourists – loud, rude, vulgar, uncouth and, sadly, typical. Desperate as I was to quickly leave the center and get to the more quiet and sophisticated Herengracht, a part of ‘De 9 Straatjes’, I came across a disturbing sight – a swan sitting amongst a pile of rubbish. This bird – long considered a symbol of beauty and elegance – had constructed her nest with litter and trash thrown into the water by the severely uncivilized people that make up our poor excuse for humanity today. Her innocent unawareness and the fact that her baby swans will wake up in a mound of garbage, is so inexpressibly devastating to me. Here is a concrete display of the damage humans inflict on the most innocent creatures – a demonstration of how far our most repugnant habits reach.

Share this:

Like this:

The trip has begun with a series of unfortunate events: our vegetarian meal failed to board the plane with us // prebooked private driver so did not meet us at the Meeting Point // the other taxi we called could not exit the airport (his card refused to work, gate would not open, 1 hour lost in cursing and near fatal attempts to simply bowl over the gate) // weather – 14C – rain – coats and sweaters in June (it was 27C just days previously).

Sigh, what disasterous phenonmen awaits us now?

Share this:

Like this:

Not so brief lunch at Hong Kong House // Lights – the restaurant is really brighter than this picture depicts // Sencha – drink to health // Eggplant – must try if in Warsaw // Rice – sticky // Fortune cookie – oh, God, no // Mine is the top, Jak’s is the bottom – and that’s when they realize they were doomed to a life of instagram-ing…

(As you may or may not have realized, Jak and I are vegetarians. What else would we be? In a country like Poland, vegetarian options are limited, and after a large # of years here, we’ve found the best. Rest assured, whatever works its way onto this blog has a justified, indubitably delicious reason for being here)

Share this:

Like this:

Once again, and to no great avail, Jak and I found ourselves in the midst of the city this chilly Sunday – something normally to be avoided since weekends for people are like full moons for werewolves. Everyone comes out and they all head to the same places – same cafes, same restaurants, same streets. Today, however, the city was surprisingly empty (thank goodness) and though, for one brief, very cursory, regrettable moment we wondered if we had been blacklisted and missed out on a secret memo informing other Warsawvians of a party that we so weren’t invited to, it turned out to be utterly delightful to not see 500 other people waiting for the same table at Charlotte that we had been eyeing for the past 30 minutes.

As we were walking around the newly converted ghost town, I spotted two cats sunning themselves on a windowsill (my eyes have a tendency to locate all kitties in the vicinity, no matter how well they are hidden). One of the kitties was utterly repulsed by my presence – she would duck down, then peek over the edge to see if I was still there (I was).

Then we proceeded to discover a wall covered in graffiti, cartoons and posters. Somehow, this random mess by hooligans turned out to be a harmonious piece of artsy work (not artwork).

Finally, we stopped by Samira for the best hummus (and quite delicious salad) in the city. The restaurant is next to a base camp for trash trucks. Read: grunge. But this is for its own benefit, as it remains far away from those trend-meisters who normally clog up the world. If you come to Warsaw – go here.

I finally got around to secretly downloading instagram on Jak’s phone, and couldn’t help but take photos of everything in sight, much to Jak’s irritation. Now can someone answer the question that has been hovering around my head all day: why is everything a cat does heart-wrenchingly adorable?

-Natasha

Share this:

Like this:

Amsterdam is my destination for the upcoming week. After that is the start of touring season (June) and soon every city will be filled with camera-toting, passport-yielding, sneaker-clad tourists. But that is to be doubly worse this summer, because…

June 8th is the start of the Euro Cup in Warsaw, making this city, as a result, the last place I want to be. Screaming face-painted football fanatics? Shirtless and drunk and brawling? Lines of police cars, bridges closed, roads blocked? Luckily, I already have an escape plan in the works.

On another note, I recently finished my first floor-length dress. You can see a photo of it below. Well, kind of.

Here’s something else: I have an impostor. I found out today someone is posting pictures of me as themselves on their lookbook.nu account (the images probably taken from my facebook page and website). Hm. Does this mean I’m overly famous now?